In Connecticut, Indigenous people have experienced the Eastern Woodlands for thousands of years. One local museum gives the members of the public the chance to learn about their wildlife and cultural traditions.
Educators from the Institute for American Indian Studies in Washington host night walks throughout the year. On a cold night in December, they guide a group of about a dozen participants on a hike through the woodlands surrounding the museum.
Along the narrow path of the quarter-mile trail, hikers can see the last full moon of the year. Flashlights and lanterns are covered with a semi-transparent red film. The film is meant to light the path while helping the hikers maintain their night vision.
On this cold night, guests count the layers of clothing worn to prepare for the hike.
Sharon Scherf is the lead educator at the institute and the night walk. Scherf talks about local wildlife and Indigenous traditions. She said the full moons are significant to Indigenous peoples. They used it to track and prepare for the seasons.
“That always varies because that cycle is always changing. The cool thing dealing with the seasons and the moon cycles is that the moons were preparatory events for Natives,” Scherf said.
Scherf leads the group to the museum’s outdoor replica of an Algonkian village. It was built to show how Indigenous people might have lived in the 16th century. Inside a bark-covered wigwam, participants gather around a campfire for hot chocolate and traditional Indigenous storytelling.
Irene Norman is a descendant of the Mohawk people and an apprentice storyteller. Norman is learning traditional oral storytelling. She said it's important to share the culture and show that it's still very much alive. She uses a bag with props to remember traditional stories.
“Sometimes they have practical information that would have been very useful had you lived in the eastern woodlands 500, a thousand, 2,500 years ago, and sometimes they have more allegorical lessons for people,” Norman said.
Gabe Benjamin is the educational programming director. Benjamin said the Institute applies a blend of learning principles to museum and outreach educational programs. This includes ecology, historical and archeological concepts.
“It’s learning to use both the lenses of Western sciences, philosophies, and ways of understanding the world as well as Indigenous, and the idea is that by using both lenses, you get a more complete picture,” Benjamin said.
Scherf's career has been in environmental education, but she said she has learned so much about the connections with Indigenous culture since joining the institute.
“My epiphany working here was how deeply connected Native Americans were to the environment. So that's what I really try to convey: cultural connections and environmental connections,” Sherf said.
The walk ends on the research center's roof, where telescopes stand for a better view of the moon. The museum exhibits the story of Connecticut’s Native American Peoples, from the distant past to their lives and culture today.
